Rift Interviews: Conquest - Open World, Three Faction PvP

The Rift team is ready to unleash Conquest on the community, a new open world cross server PvP system that will bring a totally new way to interact with the game to players around the world. That’s right: We’re talking three faction open world PvP, folks, the kind of thing people are always asking for.

I had the opportunity to chat with the Rift team about Conquest, what it is and how it fits into the overall lore of the game. Before we can get there, we need to establish some basic facts about Conquest:

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Conquest is completely separate from the general PvE world of Telara. The team long ago established that there are things called ‘slivers’ or alternate versions of Telara. I guess they’re kind of like tears in the fabric of reality that send players into a mirror image of the world.

The PvE 2-faction system disappears in these slivers. When players engage Conquest, they choose from three new factions where Guardian or Defiant play no part.

Crafting is an important component of Conquest.

Open world three faction PvP has been something that many on the Rift team have wanted to see brought into the game since it launched. The Rift fans had a hand in all of this too. The team actively listened to the requests of the player base for exactly the type of PvP mayhem that Conquest brings to Rift. All in all, it’s a win-win situation for everyone concerned.

Three Factions in a Two Faction Game?

One of the first things I asked the team was for an explanation on the three factions that players will be able to choose from in Conquest and how that can actually happen in a two faction PvE game.

Devs explained that when entering one of these alternative universe Telaras via a sliver, the traditional notion of Guardian versus Defiant completely disappears. Players will remain themselves in terms that they are still either Defiant or Guardian and carry the same skills and gear but they will have a whole different purpose within Conquest.

The first decision that has to be made is which faction to choose:

Dominion: This faction seeks to protect mortals from elementals and are sworn to keeping them safe.

Oathsworn: This group tends to believe that conquering cults and dragons is paramount above all. They are considered the “steadfast soldier and protector” of Telara.

Nightfall: This faction seeks to ascend beyond Telara and believe in imposing the rule of the Ascended on mortals.

Players choose one of these factions to align with, both the traditional Guardian/Defiant PvE factions represented. Once a faction is chosen, the battle begins with players seeking to control strategic locations across the Mathosian landscape.

Location, Location, Location

Conquest, as said, takes place in a sliver, or alternate version of Telara in Stillmoor. Caer Mathos is uninhabited in Conquest but is of “strategic importance” to the forces battling it out on the field. The fight then is not merely contained to the fields in Stillmoor but also within the castle itself.

Teams will be battling for strategic locations throughout the map and things will wind to a close when one faction controls 40% of the control points or, and this is unbelievable, 5000 players have been killed. That’s right: Five thousand. After hearing this little nugget of information, I asked the devs how many players can take part in these battles. Their answer? UNLIMITED. Players can keep joining the fray until the server breaks, they jokingly told me.

I asked whether or not the three Conquest factions would ever make the crossover into PvE and was told, “Not in the plans right now.” The lore behind the Conquest factions and locations is completely separate lore from that of the larger Telaran landscape.

Crafting and Rewards

One of the more interesting aspects of Conquest is the fact that crafting, yes crafting will play a part in open world PvP. Players will be able to access special recipes from crafting trainers and will be able to create items and buffs during Conquest that will benefit their chosen faction. According to devs, crafters can collect resources to create team-wide buffs that will benefit the team during game play.

In addition, players taking part in Conquest will be able to take advantage of tangible rewards that will be accessible in PvE. As an example, when the Conquest power bar fills, a player might receive a 3% bonus to health, attack and vengeance. How cool is that?

Lastly, new special essences will be found in Conquest that will help players enchant PvP weapons. These essences will not be able to be used on PvE weapons so the benefit for Conquest is huge.

Wrapping It Up

The last thing devs told me before we hung up is that players taking part in testing Conquer on the public test server between now and when it hits live status will get a custom title to show off what they did. The next battle is scheduled for Thursday from 4:00-8:00 p.m. PST. So get your game on and hit the PTS to check it all out.

What do you think of Conquest? Does this look like something that interests you? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Suzie Ford / Suzie is the Associate Editor and News Manager at MMORPG.com. An avid gamer, Suzie lives in the desert Southwestern US with her own personal minion.